Modus Alert (and a little breather for me too)

Exactly a week ago, I said that I had just experienced the worst day of my year so far. I wasn't being a drama queen. The day really did go terribly. So what happened? The short version is that one of our household helpers stole from us, and I discovered it when I couldn't find my cash in my usual hiding place. Yes, silly me, I shouldn't have kept cash on me. I had only kept it around because I was using it for my vacation and to pay my sister some money I owed her. A little after I realized that my money was gone, we decided to check around the house to see if anything else was missing. It turns out that my dad's watch, which he got for his 20 years of service in Unilab, had also disappeared. Imagine the panic at this point.

When you realize that valuable things in your house have disappeared, of course you'll start considering the most likely suspects. Now we've all heard about horror stories involving kasambahay. But this one is in a league of its own. In our case, one of our helpers was bound to leave on that same day, and she had only informed my dad of her departure the night before we realized that there were stuff missing at home. Here's the catch: she said that she was leaving to go back to the convent. Yes, she had trained to be a nun (she goes by Rowena Zabala or Peras, by the way. Beware).

Before coming to our house, she had come from a convent in Cebu, and she said that her time working at our house was her discernment period. She claimed to be leaving us in haste because she had sufficiently discerned that she really was meant to become a nun, and was being asked by one of the nuns to the convent to return for a retreat. Before she meant to leave, she even gave a letter to my parents thanking them for helping her with deciding on her vocation, and some photos from her time in the convent. Clever ruse, eh? Given the suddenness of her intended departure, very closely timed with the disappearance of the said objects, her cover story suddenly seemed too good to be true, so we had asked her to stay for one more day while we figure out what happened to the lost things.

I gave everyone at home the chance to return the missing things anonymously. This was at around 9AM. The day went on with everything unreturned and everyone still claiming innocence. After lunch, my dad went home to help my brother and me handle the mess, and we eventually decided to just go to the police station to match fingerprints on my money's container (which, in hindsight, I don't think they actually do here). It took a few hours at the station and some intimidation from the investigator for her to finally own up to stealing my money. But she claimed not to have stolen the watch. At least for another hour or so, during which she insinuated that one of our other helpers might be stealing from us. Eventually, she also admitted to getting the watch and selling it in the market. Then we discover that she also got my sister's necklace, which she continued to insist was hers and not my sister's. The next day, we find my sister's clothes and four cans of my mom's cans of Milkmaid condensed milk  (YES. CONDENSED MILK.) among her things. We suspect that she's also responsible for the disappearance of cash from my brother's table last month. It amazes me how she had so systematically taken all of these from each of us.

Now here's when it becomes even more stressful. After she admits to taking my money and my dad's watch (but not the other items, mind you), we find out that a confession does not translate to a guilty verdict. So if we wanted to see her behind bars, my dad and I would both have to attend several hearings and other procedures to ensure that justice would be served. With everything that I had gone through that day, I knew that I just could not afford to keep reliving that kind of stress and sacrifice so much time. Now I understand firsthand why so many criminals still get to roam free. If you have a crime committed against you, you will have to be punished further by going through the motions of our justice system. So now, she roams free as I write this. All I can resort to now is posting her photo here, in the hope that you be warned.

So when hiring new kasambahay, make sure that you ask for their NBI clearance to protect yourself. No matter how trusting you are, always keep valuables locked up.

Third Sem, Check

Today marks the end of my third semester teaching Psychology, and it is also fitting that we are celebrating Teachers' Day. While I dread the arduous task of checking exams, papers, and exams facing me over the next two weeks, the last day of classes has also reminded me of why I am pursuing this career path. As I ended my Psych 101 classes, I had students thanking me for the semester we had together, and even had a few suddenly giving me hugs before they left the room. Throughout the sem, I could feel them opening up to me little by little, and wanted to believe that I was making an impact on them, both with the content and approach of my classes. But more than that, I realized today that I got through to them because I did my best to show that I cared. Gestures like making comments on reflection papers, bringing food on the last day of class, and talking to students in "danger" mean so much to them, and I didn't even realize that because they seemed like the standard when I was an undergrad. I'm so fortunate to have such awesome role models in my former professors, who are also now my colleagues. I may not have mastered the art balancing comprehensive and relevant content with student-centered activities within the very limited period of one semester, but at least I know I'm doing some things right.

         

 

My Psych 101 classes in Ateneo and UP. Spot the teacher.

The last day of my Psych 140 class, Principles of Learning was a little different. Here, my students shared their Service Learning experiences and in the process, made me feel that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. By assigning this project to them, I did not only facilitate my students' learning of the principles relevant to our class, but also inspired them to share their learning with others as well. It was really something else to see my students so excited and genuinely involved in a school project. In fact, when I was asking for their feedback, they said that they would have wanted to have more service hours. I never thought I would hear students requesting for more work, but they actually did. And in that moment, as I saw them share their experiences, I realized the whole point of why I became a teacher.

My Psych 140 class

Yes, teaching gives me a perfect opportunity to geek out and share my excitement about the wonderful field of Psychology. But more than that, it's a chance to influence students to step out of their comfort zones and care about the world beyond their own. Initially, I thought that I wanted to teach because I wanted to make an impact on my students' lives. I thought that was enough. But there is a much greater opportunity than that. In teaching, one gets a chance to make ripples that can go well beyond the students within one's class. Stirring ideas is only the first step. We can go further by providing venues for action, which hopefully will continue even beyond the semester. By teaching students to care, we can make sure that their learning lasts longer and reaches farther.

One and a half years into the job, I can say that I'm starting to get the hang of teaching. There's still much to improve, but I have a better idea of what needs to be done. Having recently concluded my MA, I'm now moving on to bigger responsibilities as a real academic. Next sem, it'll be all about gaining stability, as I begin my stint as full time faculty in UP. While it's kind of terrifying to realize that this is where I intend to be for the rest of my working life, there's also a sense of peace in knowing that I am right where I belong.

Bayan, Bayani, Bayanihan

Ngayon ay Araw ng mga Bayani, at patuloy pa ring ipinagdiriwang ang Buwan ng Wika - parehong tanda ng ating pagka-Pilipino. Hindi siguro kasing dalas iniuugnay ang Araw ng mga Bayani sa pagka-Pilipino, lalo na ngayong bukambibig na ng mga Pilipino mismo ang lahat ng baho ng ating lahi. Kung pagagawan ko kayo ng listahan ngayon ng mga katangian ng mga Pilipino, malamang ay mas maraming lilitaw na mga masasama kaysa mabubuting mga salita. Hindi naman sa sinasabi kong may mali sa iyo. Marahil, ito ay nagpapakita ng mas malawakang problema sa ating pananaw sa sarili natin bilang Pilipino. Saan nga ba nagmumula ang mga pananaw na ito?

http://www.wallsave.com/wallpaper/1600x899/philippines-flag-paint-drawn-hd-fond-d-cran-268689.html

Kung titignan natin ang ating kasaysayan, at ang paraan ng pagturo nito sa mga paaralan, hinahati ito sa mga panahon na sumailalim tayo sa kapangyarihang panlabas o ng diktador. Sa mga kamay ng mga dayuhan at ng diktador, nagmumula sa iba ang paningin natin sa Pilipino. Iilang taon pa lamang tayo maituturing tunay na demokrasya na may kalayaang hubugin ang ating sariling mga pananaw at paninindigan tungkol sa ating bansa. At sa maiksing panahong ito, karamihan ng mga nakikita natin ay pangungurakot ng may kapangyarihan, at pagbabalewala sa pangangailangan ng mas nangangailangan. Dahil ito ang nangyayari sa taas, ito rin ang pinaka matingkad na nakikita natin, kung kaya't inaangkin na natin ito bilang katangiang Pilipino. Oo, nangyayari rin ang mga yan sa pang araw-araw na mga sitwasyon ng mga pangkaraniwang tao, pero hindi lang naman ito sa bansa natin nangyayari. Kahit saan ay makakakita ka rin ng mga taong hindi kanais-nais ang ginagawa. Hindi lang nila inaangkin ito bilang katangiang likas sa kanilang kultura.

Sa halip ng mga makasariling katangiang ito, bakit nga ba hindi natin ibalik at angkinin ang kalakasan ng loob na ipinakita ng ating mga bayani? Kapag isinalin ang salitang bayani sa Ingles, ang makukuha natin ay ang salitang hero. Ngunit kung titignan natin ang pinagmulan ng salitang ito mula sa ating wika, agad na mapapansin na ang ugat nito ay ang salitang bayan. Nakatali ang pagiging bayani sa pag-uuna sa bayan bago ang sarili. May iba't ibang gamit din ang salitang bayan - maaaring ang tinutukoy nito ay ang bansang pinaroroonan, ngunit posible rin itong isalin bilang mas maliit na town. Aliman sa dalawa ang tinutukoy, makikita na ang bayan ay mas malawak sa sarili at sa mga taong malapit sa atin. At dito makikita kung ano ang kahulugan ng pagiging bayani - ang pagsagot sa pangangailangan ng nakararami nang walang kapalit.

Photo by Kevin C. Tatco
http://www.theguidon.com/2011/09/slipping-out-of-control/ 

Hindi man ito matingkad ngayon sa ating lipunan, may mga bahid din ng kabayanihang nakikita sa ating paligid. Sa nakaraang bagyo, nakita ang bayanihan upang matulungan ang mga nasalanta. Sa kasalukuyan, may libu-libong taong nasa Luneta at iba pang mga lugar sa Pilipinas at sa ibang bansa upang magprotesta sa mga taong mga inuna ang sarili kaysa sa bayan, kahit ang kauna-unahan nilang tungkulin dapat ay ang pagliligkod sa bayan. Sa araw-araw din ay may mga bayani sa ating paligid na hindi natin napapansin. Nawa'y mapasalamatan din natin sila para sa kanilang kabayanihan, at sikapin din nating maging bayani para sa iba sa sarili nating paraan.

Keep Moving Forward

I had a particularly productive day today, especially given the fact that it's a Monday and I spent my entire weekend working. I wasn't just productive with my work, but I even got around to doing yoga even when I came home feeling ridiculously tired. While most people believe that I am highly disciplined, a few of those close to me know all too well that I can in fact be very lazy. While I was proud of what I had done today, the (unofficial, unlicensed) psychologist and learning teacher in me wanted to understand what got me moving today. In the process, that led me to the idea of behavioral momentum, which is basically says that we become more likely to behave in a certain way if we have already begun engaging in similar behaviors (Ormrod, 2012). Now because of the use of the word momentum in that particular psych concept, that got me thinking about Newton's laws of motion and its possible links to our behaviors. From there, I realized that Newton's laws do not just apply to the physical motion of objects, but can also (partly) predict our behaviors. 

Law I. Every body perseveres in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a right line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed thereon.

This reflects the idea of behavioral momentum, which is actually a double-edged sword in our behaviors. When we are in a state of rest, it is often very difficult to get started, unless we have a force that compels us to get off our lazy butts and start moving. But once we do encounter that force to get us started, be it external pressure or our powers of self-regulation, we are likely to keep engaging in that behavior - at least until we encounter a roadblock. This roadblock might initially come in the form of a notification from a social networking site, a nagging thought, or a reminder of an unfinished task. Now when this roadblock cues a very strong habit, this may exert a force strong enough to stop us in the middle of whatever activity we're doing. And once we entertain these and get started on our habits, that becomes even more difficult to stop because there is so little force required to keep a habit moving. The fact that we use the term "force of habit" suggests their strong push on us, so the key step here is preventing reminders of these habits from making their presence felt in the first place (Wood & Neal, 2007). 

From http://theoatmeal.com/comics/running

Law II. The alteration of motion is ever proportional to the motive force impressed; and is made in the direction of the right line in which that force is impressed.

You're probably more familiar with this law in terms of formulas like f = ma (i.e., force = mass x acceleration) and a = f/m (acceleration = force/mass). Let's focus on that second formula on acceleration. How much speed we gain depends on opposing influences - while we have some force pushing us towards our desired direction, there is some mass that is also holding us back. It's quite fitting that Motte's (1729) translation of Newton used the term motive force, so we can think about this force as our motivation. Our motivation drives us toward our goals, but anyone who has ever given in to that plate of sisig while on a diet, or spent an hour on Facebook instead of studying knows that motivation is not enough. There is that mass, that Blerch as The Oatmeal puts it, that weighs us down and slows down our progress. The Blerch can come in many forms, and it is essential to identify what our Blerch is. By knowing its nature and its specific influence on us, we can increase our motivational force (as well as supporting forces like self-regulation) to reduce its effects on our acceleration.

Law III. To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction; or the mutual actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal, and directed to contrary parts.

In traditional conceptions of behaviorism, people were thought of as machines that only reacted predictably to the stimuli in our environment. But years later, the social cognitive theorists, particularly Bandura came up with the idea of reciprocal determinism, where individuals, behaviors, and the environment all exert an influence on one another (Ormrod, 2012). All of our behaviors have some impact on the people and events around us, but all of the people and events around as also have an impact on our behaviors. Therefore, what we do can have a lasting impact on ourselves along with the people and things around us. This, I think, is both inspiring and terrifying. 

References

Newton, I. (1729). Newton's principia: The mathematical principles of natural philosophy. (A. Motte, Trans.). New York: Daniel Adee. (Original work published 1987)

Ormrod, J.E. (2012). Principles of learning (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. 

Wood, W., & Neal, D. (2007). A new look at habits and the habit-goal interface. Psychological Review, 114(4), 843-863.

Why Do You Run?

I went on a run today, and I did my usual routine of listening to music from my Endorphins playlist in my iPod. Unfortunately, in the process of  trying to speed up to a sprint, I accidentally pulled my earphones and lost one of their removable rubber plugs along the Acad Oval. Aside from the annoying idea of losing something in my typical(ly clumsy) way, I was confronted with the thought that I had only my thoughts to occupy me during another round at the oval.

At first, I attempted to map out my analysis for my thesis while running, but quickly realized that thinking about something so taxing while doing a physically demanding task would lead nowhere. I'd probably stop dead in my tracks, or be unable to stitch any proper thoughts about this totally unrelated domain. Thankfully, it was the latter, so I managed to finish my two-oval goal for the day. I gave up on that attempt to get my thesis going while I was on the go, and just let my thoughts drift. Somewhere between the UP Theater and the College of Music, when I was starting to get tired, it went towards thinking about my present task of running. So I asked myself, "Why do you run?" (Yes, the question was really in second person, if you're wondering.) And as my muscles and joints began to ache, and my breath became more labored, I tried to come up with an answer to that question. Soon enough I found two: I run because I like knowing that I can reach my difficult goal (of course, that difficulty is relative to my own abilities). I run because I like the feeling myself get stronger.

In coming up with these answers, I eventually began to think about extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. In the former, we engage in certain activities because we're out to get external rewards. This was initially the case for me and my fitness activities this past month. I ran/did futsal/yoga/Nike Training Club because I wanted to fit into my sisters' clothes and get my siblings to stop making fun of me for being the only one with more than 10% body fat among them. But a month into pursuing these goals, even if these activities caused me so much pain and discomfort, I found myself enjoying them and deriving pleasure from witnessing my own progress. In short, my motivations became intrinsic. I do the activities for their own sake, even if they certainly do not make my life easier in the short-term.

Taken from http://determineduncensored.com/tag/truths/

Thinking about that, I came to realize that we humans are quite a strange bunch. We willingly subject ourselves to activities that may sometimes bring excruciating pain (e.g., exercise and graduate studies), while our intuitions tell us that we are being ridiculous and masochistic, and the easy way is usually the best way. True, we are more likely to succumb to these shortcuts and settle for the minimum requirement, but we are also capable of pushing ourselves to our very limits just because we crave that challenge. When people do decide to take on the more arduous route, we usually find the best of what humanity has to offer.

-------------------------------
P.S. I am not claiming to be an avid nor a regular runner. I'm still in the earlier part of the process of really, truly falling in love with sports and exercise.

Connect the Dots

Most human phenomena are extremely complex. Psychology may try to attach names to these, and operationalize different constructs, but psychological research merely provides us with a partial picture of possible relationships among variables. Good research reporting, after all, entails emphasizing that results are by no means conclusive about the how phenomena come about on a general scale, as the research was conducted within a certain context and among particular participants who might share certain characteristics. Occasionally, this research is reported in more reader-friendly formats, and we get titles like, "Does studying science make you a better person?" that may lead people to jump to sweeping generalizations about the group of people concerned. Thankfully, such articles still report how the research was conducted, and critical readers will get the chance to make conclusions for themselves based on the findings and the methodology.

Most unfortunate though, is the propagation of misinformation in popular media, where conclusions are not always founded on scientific evidence or even logical thinking. The past month has given us two very concrete examples of this, in the issues of homophobic parenting and the tragic UP Manila suicide. Yes, I know this is a little late, but it took a while for me to synthesize these events that gained much media coverage. What these two have in common is irresponsible journalism and the human tendency to jump to conclusions. I'd like to focus a little more on the latter.

One proposition comes from the Gestalt psychologists, the guys (yes, most, if not all of them are guys) with whom we associate with the cliche, "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts." These psychologists were particularly bent on talking about how our minds organize information, and they proposed certain patterns with which we do so. One law that they came up with was the Law of Pragnanz, which basically says that humans have a tendency to stick to the simplest, most concise, symmetrical and complete explanations for our experiences (Ormrod, 2012).

The Law of Pragnanz: We see five circles instead of a series of complicated shapes. Simple, concise, symmetrical. 

Image from http://blog.ocad.ca/wordpress/gdes1b26-fw2009-01/?cat=227

Another possible explanation comes from Nobel Laureate, Daniel Kahneman (2010), who wrote the book Thinking, Fast and Slow to discuss how our minds work within two systems: the instinctive and emotional System 1, and the rational and deliberate System 2. Because we were designed for efficiency, System 1 often takes charge of the initial information processing, unless we believe it to warrant greater analysis and interpretation. Unfortunately, in this day and age where we are bombarded with so much information, we choose to take mental shortcuts because it's just so much faster and there's just too much to process.

So with these human tendencies for simplicity and efficiency, we have quick conclusions that the environment (i.e., child-rearing methods) can "correct" any gay tendencies, and a forced leave of absence can cause a suicide. In the process, we fail to recognize that there are so many more layers in between, that human phenomena result from the complex interplay of variables. A one-to-one correspondence of cause and effect is rarely the case.

Sources:

Kahneman, D. (2010). Thinking, fast and slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Ormrod, J.E. (2012). Human Learning (6^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

2012

2012 was a year of chasing dreams.

Dreams of becoming a teacher...

...and a real academic.

I met some pretty awesome people along the way too.

I also watched people I love chase their own dreams.

In between, I experienced new things,

revisited my childhood,

 

and saw new sights from nearer

 

and farther places.

 

Of course, seeing the world is a lot more awesome with friends,

family,

   

and my personal cheeseballs photographer.

2012 also had its share of goodbyes (and my, did I cry).

 

But it was also filled with love and new beginnings.

 

The love of friends who will always, always be there through the best and worst points of my life.

 

The love of a crazy, clingy family

that learns to overcome challenges and differences.

And of course, the love of this curious koala...

 

who has joined me for this wonderful ride.

So thank you, 2012. I am now ready to jump,

and finish what I've started

so I can play a greater role in the bigger picture.